Cartagena Ups Films for 53rd Edition

Article excerpt

The 53rd edition of the Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI) kicks off tonight with the opening screening of Andres Baiz's ROA, a period film about Juan Roa Sierra, the mysterious man who allegedly murdered Colombian presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan in 1948.

The festival's other two galas will be for Brazilian documentary Bel Borba Aqui by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, and Spanish-Argentine production Everybody Has A Plan (Todos Tenemos Un Plan) by Ana Pieterbbarg, starring Viggo Mortensen.

The festival will screen 107 features (up from last year's 77). This year's number of screenings increases to 290 (starting at 9am each morning) at cinemas, new digital theatres and outdoor events for five "cinema under the stars" selections.

Audience demand

Monika Wagenberg, the festival director who joined the festival in late 2010, noted that the increased number of screenings and additional venues were in response to audience demand.

The festival made what she calls "definitely the right" decision to make its screenings free in 2012, and will continue free screenings in 2013 with new changes to handle last year's overflowing crowds.

"These changes have enabled us to offer more films, but we are also fortunate in that we had a large crop of excellent Colombian and international films to choose from, as you can see from our programme, which features original, provocative stories by newcomers and more established directors."